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Inputs v outputs

02 April 2009 / Jane Ching
Issue: 7363 / Categories: Features , Legal services , Training & education , Profession
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Continuing, professional, developmental...Jane Ching debates the true meaning of CPD

It has been difficult to miss discussion in the legal press about the new flexibility entering the legal practice course (LPC) market. Easier, perhaps, unless involved in it, to overlook the piloting of the proposed replacement for the training contract—a period of work-based learning extended beyond the parameters of the conventional law firm or its in-house, local or central government equivalent. As with the new LPC, outcomes to be achieved are set and those outcomes, in terms of the competences expected of an individual at the point of qualification, are to be assessed.

Qualification limbo

Solicitors sit in an odd state of limbo: once qualified there is no obligation to obtain any further or higher qualifications. Recognition of competence and expertise is internal, within the employing organisation, or by reputation rather than qualification given the absence of objective or externally assessable criteria promulgated by the profession.

A similar limbo surrounds the solicitors' continuing professional development (CPD) system. At present, its focus in fact,

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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